Garden at Giverny (In Monet's Garden)

Vibrant in color and texture, John Leslie Breck’s Garden at Giverny (In Monet’s Garden) inserts the viewer directly into a luxuriant garden, possibly that belonging to French painter Claude Monet (1840–1926), at his home in the rural village of Giverny, in Normandy, France. Pink and white roses, golden rudbeckia, brilliant red poppies, and an unidentified periwinkle-colored blossom are among the flowers that crowd the view, their feathery foliage swallowing the path that meanders from the foreground. Distinct shadows on its warm gravel surface emphasize the particular, transient moment of sunlit midday. In the distance, the garden merges with trees in full summer greenery, crowding a glimpse of the sky filled with fair-weather clouds. Although the image features a garden rather than a wild landscape, it includes no figures or man-made structures to temper the viewer’s close-up experience of nature’s forms.

Many American artists were painting in Giverny in the late 1880s. Breck was among a select few admitted to Monet’s inner circle and is known to have painted his garden. During his five years in the village, he was profoundly influenced by Monet: abandoning the techniques he had learned in traditional art academies, Breck took up the newer mode of impressionism—working rapidly and on the spot to record transient light effects in distinct strokes of bright, pure color.

Monet first painted his recently established garden in 1887, the year Breck arrived in Giverny. Its lush riot of color and form served him as a vehicle for active, swirling brushwork and strong hues. Breck, one of the few outsiders in Giverny with access to Monet’s garden, naturally emulated his mentor by painting the same subject in an impressionist manner in such works as Garden at Giverny (In Monet’s Garden), Garden at Giverny (TF 1999.18), and others. Several were titled to specify their locale, thus drawing attention to the artist’s intimacy with the French impressionist master, when they were exhibited in Breck’s 1890 solo show at the St. Botolph’s Club in Boston. This exhibition caused a sensation among an American viewing public with little prior experience of impressionist painting, and established Breck as one of its foremost proponents. Garden at Giverny (In Monet’s Garden) ranks as one of the purest expressions of American artistic admiration for Monet. Like many young artists working in France, Breck resorted to the principles of his academic training for large canvases such as Autumn, Giverny (The New Moon) (TF 1989.16), destined for the prestigious annual exhibition.

American Impressionism, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venues: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., July 1–August 26, 1973; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, September 18-November 2, 1973; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, December 15, 1973–January 31, 1974; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, March 8–April 29, 1974. [exh. cat.]

American Impressionism, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (organizer). Venues: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, January 3–March 2, 1980; Frederick S. Wight Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles, California, March 9–May 4, 1980; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, May 16–June 22, 1980; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts, July 1–August 31, 1980. [exh. cat.]

Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey (organizer). Venues: Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, October 1–November 30, 1983; Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, December 13, 1983–February 12, 1984; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, March 1–May 27, 1984. [exh. cat.]

Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1–October 31, 1993; April 1-October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]

Giverny: une impression américaine (Giverny, An American Impression), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 1, 1998.

Permanent collection installation, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2001.

Les impressionistes américains, de 1880 à 1915, Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland (organizer). Venue: Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 7–October 20, 2002.

Giverny en fleurs (Giverny in Bloom), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 2–November 30, 2003.

Monet and Friends, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary (organizer). Venue: Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary, December 1, 2003–March 15, 2004. [exh. cat.]

Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 31, 2005. [exh. brochure]

Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930 (Passing through Paris: American Artists in France, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, April 1–October 29, 2006. [exh. brochure]

Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2007; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 21–October 14, 2007. [exh. cat.]

Impressionist Giverny: The Americans, 1885-1915, Selections from the Terra Foundation for American Art, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Florence Griswold Museum of Art, Old Lyme, Connecticut, May 3–July 27, 2008; Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, August 23, 2008–January 4, 2009.

Le Jardin de Monet à Giverny : l'invention d'un paysage (Monet's Garden at Giverny: Inventing the Landscape), Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, France (organizer); Venue: Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, May 1–August 15, 2009. [exh. cat].

The American Impressionists in the Garden, Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee (organiser). Venues: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, March 13–September 6, 2010; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, September 24, 2010–January 3, 2011; Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, February 18–May 15, 2011. [exh. cat.]

Into the Light: The Paintings of William Blair Bruce, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (organizer). Venue: Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 24–October 5, 2014. [exh. cat.]

The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887–1920, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 13–May 24, 2015; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, June 14–September 6, 2015; Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, October 3, 2015–January 3, 2016. [exh. cat.]

Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. (exh. cat., Henry Art Gallery). Seattle, Washington: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, 1980. Ill. p. 29 (color).

Gerdts, William H. Down Garden Paths: The Floral Environment in American Art. (exh. cat., Montclair Art Museum). Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, 1983. Ill. p. 22 (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. New York: Abbeville Press, 1984. Ill. pp. 2–3 (color).

American Paintings V. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1988. Text p. 110; ill. p. 111 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 146–47; pl. 12, p. 148 (color).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 146–47; pl. 12, p. 148 (color).

Gomes, Rosalie. Impressions of Giverny: A Painter's Paradise 1883–1914. San Francisco, California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995. Text pp. 61, 114; pl. 43, p. 65 (color).

Mancoff, Debra N. Monet's Garden in Art. London, England: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2001. Ill. pp. 80 (color), 82 (color detail), 83 (color detail).

Monet et ses amis. (exh cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts). Budapest, Hungary: Musée des Beaux-Arts, 2003. Text p. 346, Ill. p.347 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. et al. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. Text. pp. 65, 204 (checklist); cat. p. 104 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. "Impressionist Giverny: American Painters in France" American Art Review 20.3 (June 2008): 100-113. Ill. p.106 (color).

Bocquillon, Marina Ferretti, ed. Monet's Garden in Giverny: Inventing the Landscape. (exh. cat. Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny) Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny, 2009. Text pp. 13, 137 (checklist); Ill Cat. 29, p. 90 (color).

Hill, May Brawley. The American Impressionists in the Garden. (ex. cat., Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, Tenessee). Nashville: Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art and Vanderbilt University Press, 2010. Text pp. 4, 119 (checklist); ill. pl. 1, pp. 30–31 (color).

The American Impressionists in the Garden, American Art Review (April 2010): 82–91, 126–128. Text p. 84, ill. p. 88 (color).

Bruce, Tobi and Joan Padgett, eds., Into the Light: The Paintings of William Blair Bruce (1859–1906). (exh. cat. Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada). Ontario: Art Gallery of Hamilton, 2014. Ill. p. 101 (color); text p. 245 (checklist).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 146; ill. p. 146 (color).